How to Adjust the Brightness of a Computer Screen

By David Ward

Each person may need different settings to be able to comfortably view what is written on a computer screen. One adjustment that can be made to a computer screen is altering the brightness setting, which adjusts how much light is illuminated by the computer screen. Unlike contrast, it does not make images any crisper or clearer. Brightness simply makes the screen lighter or darker.

Adjusting on the Monitor

Step 1

Push the "Menu" button on the front or bottom of your monitor.

Step 2

Select the "Picture" option from the menu. Follow the on-screen instructions to navigate to the "brightness" setting in the menu.

Step 3

Select the brightness setting and adjust the brightness up or down as instructed in the pop-up menu on the monitor.

Step 4

Press "Exit" to exit the menu.

Adjusting on the Keyboard

Step 1

Locate the two keys that have "sun" icons on the keyboard, typically on a number or on the up and down arrows.

Step 2

Hold the "Function" key (fn) and push the icon with a sun and an up arrow to adjust the screen brighter and the key with a sun icon and a down arrow to adjust the screen darker.

Step 3

Push the "Sun" button with an up arrow to adjust the screen brighter and the "Sun" button with the down arrow to adjust the screen darker.

Tips & Warnings

Laptops nearly all have keyboard shortcuts for adjusting screen resolution.

Adjusting screen resolution to match the brightness of the area behind it reduces strain on the computer user's eyes. (reference 1)